Information gathering & disclosure
Data is collected on Victorian deaths and includes all perinatal deaths (stillbirths and neonates) from 20 weeks gestation or 400 gm birth weight; all infant and child deaths up to, but not including the eighteenth birthday; and all maternal deaths. Death certificates are received from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, and case files are created. Information is then sought from many sources including the following: hospital case records, individual doctors, pathology departments, Coronial Services, and the Newborn Emergency Transport Service.
A health service provider who is requested to provide information, is authorised to provide that information to Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (CCOPMM) (s. 162FA of the Health Act 1958 (Vic)) despite any other law to the contrary.
Specialist committees then review interesting, complex or contentious cases. The committees make recommendations and consider potential contributing factors.
If CCOPMM determines that a release to a body specified in section 162FB of the Act (including the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria and hospitals) would be “in the public interest”, it has discretion to release the information to that body. CCOPMM would only release information after a very careful consideration of the issues, including the need to encourage full and frank disclosures by health providers. CCOPMM cannot be compelled under any law to release information it holds.
An annual report (available in PDF format), is produced and distributed to medical practitioners and other relevant persons and institutions